Everything comes back to politics

The Senate approved an agreement for a new round of COVID-related funding today. The $10 billion package includes money for COVID testing and treatment as well as vaccine distribution, but without additional funds for foreign aid. We’ll see what happens when the House gets its turn to vote on the deal. There’s also a new report from the United Nations’ climate science agency suggesting that only drastic  emissions cuts will save us from some of the worst effects of climate change, and most countries lack the political will to do anything about it. Finally, we’ll end on a Make Me Smile that might count as good public relations for pop singer Rick Astley. Here’s everything we talked about today: “Democratic, GOP senators reach $10 billion COVID agreement, removes international aid” from PBS NewsHour “Senate strikes $10B Covid deal” from Politico “The IPCC says we already have the tech tools to stop climate change” from Protocol “‘Now or never’: Only severe emissions cuts will avoid climate extremes, U.N. report says” from Reuters “The world is running out of options to hit climate goals, U.N. report shows” from The Washington Post The “Electrify Everything” episode of “How We Survive” from Marketplace “Birkenstock Wants to Keep Rival Sandals Off Shelves at Nordstrom, Zappos, Other Retailers” from The Wall Street Journal “Drones create giant QR code to ‘Rickroll’ the city of Dallas” from United Press International Got a question for the hosts? Saw something interesting you want to share? Email us at [email protected] or leave a message at 508-U-B-SMART(508-827-6278).